Stark County officials will have to spend $250,000 more this year if they want to keep the same health insurance protection they now have in place.

"We've been kind of the fair-haired child," explained Carol Hayn, benefits coordinator for the 1,450 county government employees.

Hayn and representatives of Aultcare met with county commissioners on Monday to discuss the increase and options in purchasing what's commonly called stop-loss insurance.

The county's health insurance program for employees is self-funded. That means employees and taxpayers pay premiums into a pool, rather than to a third-party insurer.

This year, those premiums are expected to amount to a combined $17 million — which should cover the estimated $17 million to be paid out in claims.

The county, though, also carries stop-loss coverage through Aultcare. That's a supplemental policy of sorts, one that requires Aultcare to begin paying medical bills for any employee after claims exceed $150,000 in a year.

Last year, the county paid Aultcare $335,665 for that policy. However, Aultcare paid out $627,074 in claims. Simple math shows that the county came out way ahead, or Aultcare came out way behind, depending on your perspective.

"You can see they are seriously in the hole with this group," Hayn said.

So, Aultcare's new offer for 2014: The same policy for $583,544, a 73.8 percent increase. In addition, two county employees — with ongoing expensive claims — would be 'lasered' out of, or excluded from, the stop-loss policy.

The county's other option is a policy for $475,753, in which stop-loss payments would begin after $200,000 instead of $150,000, but with the same two exclusions.

Increased premiums probably should have occurred years ago, said Mark Rosnek, Aultcare's director of retention. He called the county's stop-loss policy "underpriced."